Thermo-optically driven adaptive mirror for laser applications

An adaptive mirror is investigated that is based on the deformation of the reflective surface due to thermal expansion of an underlying material that can be locally heated with an external light source. The mirror is made from a glass plate coated with a 1-mm-thick layer of a material with a large thermal expansion coefficient that was finally sputter coated with a thin gold film. The adaptive mirror is thermo-optically heated with an incandescent lamp. To generate the desired temperature pattern an aperture mask is used. The deformation of the adaptive mirror is measured with a Michelson interferometer. It is shown that the spatial resolution and amplitude of the deformation are sufficient for the application as an adaptive mirror. As a possible application the suitability of this mirror type as part of a laser resonator to generate a super-Gaussian mode is discussed.